New York freshman native, Emily Wunder, is a 6’3 outside player, for the Winthrop women’s volleyball team. Wunder attended a small school called Penn Yan Academy, in upstate NY. She decided to continue her volleyball career into her college years. “I love the sport so much and it has opened up so many opportunities and friendships for me,” said Wunder.
As a freshman here at Winthrop, Wunder is transitioning from a high school-level playing field into a college–level playing field. Not only is it a big transition to go from a high school to a college sport but it is a big change academically for students. “Collegiate level volleyball is a lot more time consuming than high school volleyball. Besides the practices we also have to go to lift, team meetings, sports psychology and we spend a lot of time in the athletic training room recovering and trying to prevent injuries,” said Wunder.
Wunder said that transitioning from a high school to a college–level sport changes an athletes time management skills. Playing a Division One sport takes up a lot of her time, along with studying and attending classes as well as learning how to manage her time on and off the court is another difference from high school. “The coaching staff for college volleyball is significantly larger than a normal high school coaching staff. Because there are so many coaches, players receive a lot more feedback which helps us improve,” said Wunder.
The Lady Eagles have been hard at work this summer since July tenth, practicing and lifting to prepare for the season. “This means that our players had to sacrifice a lot of their summer to start preparing for the season,” said Wunder.
Students athletes had to report their friends, families and homes to move to Rock Hill for most of their summer, starting their school year early. Wunder said that it was hard to leave home “but the time I spent on campus practicing and lifting and getting to know my teammates definitely helped me transition into pre season a lot easier. Moving in early also allowed me to explore Rock Hill and find some really cool places and restaurants”.
These Eagles have some great games to look forward to this year. Wunder said, “As a freshman I have high hopes for this season and I hope to see a lot of fans cheering us on as we compete.”
Winthrop women’s volleyball’s first home game will be Tuesday, Sept. 11th at 7 p.m. at the Winthrop Coliseum.
For more information on upcoming volleyball games and the entire 2018-2019 girls volleyball roster visit: http://winthropeagles.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball.